Air India plans to lease Jet Airways'grounded Boeing 777 aircraft

The national carrier is also looking to take Jet's grounded Boeing 777 aircraft from State Bank of India on lease.

"Subject to approvals and financial viability, we can examine the possibility of taking five B777's on wet/dry lease basis from SBI, the terms for which can be mutually thrashed out," Air India chairman said.

KOLKATA: Air India is exploring the possibility of operating aircraft in five international sectors which were earlier operated by the grounded Jet Airways. The national carrier is also looking to take Jet's grounded Boeing 777 aircraft from State Bank of India on lease.

"Subject to approvals and financial viability, we can examine the possibility of taking five B777's on wet/dry lease basis from SBI, the terms for which can be mutually thrashed out," Air India chairman Ashwani Lohani said in a communique to SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar.

Lenders led by SBI now holds 50.1% in Jet following the debt-equity conversion as per Reserve Bank of India norms for stressed loans. The stake issued to the banks is valued at Re 1 on their books.

"We are Air India, are indeed saddened by the turn of affairs at Jet Airways, a scenario that is creating considerable inconvenience to the travelling public. In tune with Air India's role and responsibilities as the national carrier, we would be happy top alleviate this inconvenience by considering the possibility of operating a few B777 aircraft, on their established routes," Lohani said in his letter dated April 17.

The routes mentioned in the letter are Mumbai-London-Mumbai, Delhi-London-Delhi, Mumbai-Dubai-Mumbai, Delhi-Dubai-Delhi and Delhi-Singapore-Delhi.

Lohani has also nominated Air India executive director Meenakshi Malik to discuss the issue with SBI management.

Jet Airways has 10 Boeing 777 in its fleet which the troubled airlines used to serve various popular international routes.

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